10 years of the German Book Prize
A reason to celebrate

This year, the German Book Prize was awarded for the tenth year in a row. The goal of this independent literary prize is to increase awareness of German-language literature on a national and international level. That is still the case to this day. The German Book Prize was launched in 2004 by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels – the German Publishers and Booksellers Association – in a major press conference in Frankfurt’s Römer. Seated at the podium were the organisers, sponsors and supporters of the award: Gottfried Honnefelder (Börsenverein), Stefan Aust (DER SPIEGEL), Florian Langenscheidt and Petra Roth (city of Frankfurt).

„The German Book Prize has provided a solution to an issue that has long been of concern to me and many others by offering a way to purposefully support the culture of this genre, of reading and, above all, our language, and to play an active role in helping to shape cultural life in the process. From my perspective as a publisher, the German Book Prize represents all of these things. Even more valuable is the fact that the Book Prize is supported by partners outside the industry.“
Armin Gmeiner, Gmeiner-Verlag

Newly updated
Archive of the German Book Prize’s first 10 years

10years of the German Book Prize – that equates to 200 nominated titles, 160 authors, 10 winners and 70 jury members. To help you keep track of everything, we’ve set up a new archive to mark our anniversary. How many times has your favourite author been nominated for the German Book Prize, and in which years?

Or maybe you’re interested in finding out which titles have been nominated by a particular publishing house? Looking for the shortlist from a specific year or the jury members from another? You’ll find answers to your questions in our archive - however, only in German.

Exhibition

The original object

What do the key players from the first 10 years of the German Book Prize associate with this award? Which objects were of particular significance to authors, jurors and organisers? These questions will be addressed by the exhibition “Das Original” (“The original object!”), which will open on 23 January 2015. The organiser and starting point for this travelling exhibition is the Deutsche Literaturarchiv Marbach. Check back here soon for additional locations.

Game, set and match

The book about the prize

Ten years of the German Book Prize, edited by Ingo Irsigler and Gerrit Lembke, Berlin University Press